Fire Crews Respond to Haz-Mat Call at O’Neill High School

A chemistry lab experiment gone wrong has caused the evacuation of James O’Neill high school this morning.

About 20 students were being treated area hospitals for possible exposure to the smoke, after a 911 call was placed just before 10:00 AM Tuesday morning. The smokey condition was the result of an ammonia based spill in the school’s 3rd floor chemistry lab.

The high school has been dismissed early for the day due to the situation.

Ambulances were called in to transport the students to three hospitals for observation.

Fire personnel from Fort Montgomery, Highland Falls, West Point and Cornwall as well as Orange County Haz-Mat were called to the scene.